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Arsenal humiliated as Bayern Munich run riot

Calls for Arsene Wenger's resignation or departure from the club will surely intensify after Arse...



Arsenal humiliated as Bayern M...
Soccer

Arsenal humiliated as Bayern Munich run riot

Calls for Arsene Wenger's resignation or departure from the club will surely intensify after Arsenal were beaten 5-1 - 10-2 on aggregate - at home to Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.

With the pressure already mounting on Wenger in recent weeks and having suffered an identical defeat in their opening leg, the Frenchman will now be under enormous pressure to leave the club come the end of the season.

The game had started brightly for Arsenal, but a second-half penalty and a red card for captain Laurent Koscielny killed off any spark the game had. 

By the end, Bayern Munich's front-men were queuing up to extend their lead.

The Germans held the ball in the early minutes of the game in the hopes of frustrating their opponents. Arjen Robben's early deflected effort was followed as David Alaba's shot from the edge of the box. 

From this point, the first-half remained mostly in Arsenal's control. Theo Walcott's energetic first-half display was symptomatic of Arsenal's desperation and he linked up with Alexis Sanchez well to almost give the home side the lead.

From the right hand side, the Chilean lifted a ball through to Walcott who went through on goal but Manuel Neuer was out off his line to cut out the danger. 

Giroud, who replaced Danny Welbeck in the warm-up after the England striker suffered an injury, was next to go close from the home side. A wonderful ball lifted into the six-yard box was met by the Frenchman, who's forceful downward header ended up on the wrong side of the post.

Walcott then gave the home side hope with the game's opening goal. He dribbled in from the right wing, cutting through three Bayern defenders before finishing high into the roof of the net.

Arsenal could have doubled that lead just minutes later when Walcott went down under a challenge in the box, but referee Anastasios Sidiropoulos waved away calls for penalty.

Arsenal's urgency to win the ball back and pressure high up the field lifted the crowd and they came out after the break looking to emulate the performance of the first 45 minutes.

One of the key turning points of the game came just after the restart. Giroud rose highest to meet Aaron Ramsey's cross and with time to measure his header, he put the ball over the bar. 

Just five minutes after this, Bayern were back in the game. Robert Lewandowski, to this point relatively, ran in behind the Arsenal defence and Koscielny had no choice but to bring down the Pole.

Upon the advice of the official behind the goal, the Frenchman was given his marching orders.

Lewandowski stepped up and slotted home. The floodgates had opened.

FC Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski (right) celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the game with teammate Arturo Vidal. Image: John Walton EMPICS Sport

From there Bayern Munich were relentless. Lewandowski tested Ospina with a shot from range before Robben gave them the lead. A pass into the Bayern forward line ricocheted back to the Dutchman who put his side-footed effort beyond the Colombian.

Lewandowski hit the post from Costa's cross and the latter was on hand to make it 3-1 when he cut inside on his left foot and from the edge of the box tucked it into the corner of the net.

Vidal added two before the end, a dinked effort over Ospina was the pick of the bunch, before he rounded off the scoring with a simple tap-in in the final 10 minutes of the game. 

The aggregate defeat is second biggest win for a German team against an English side in Europe, after Dortmund's 10-1 victory over Manchester United in 1964/65 UEFA Cup.

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